Becoming Certified in Northwest Indiana

OVERVIEW

The licensing landscape in Northwest Indiana largely mirrors that of Illinois with some slight nuances. This page is designed to help you navigate those differences and outlines:

How to prepare for your Transition to Teach (T2T) license

Timeline of actions (and resources) for acquiring your T2T

Information regarding testing

University Partner information

preparing for your transition to teach license

Your Transition to Teach (T2T) license is the two year temporary license that you receive prior to the first day of school (FDOS). Your T2T allows you to hold full certification, and therefore legally be able to teach, while completing your University Partner program at Calumet College of St. Joseph.

In order to receive your Transition to Teach license by August 2019, the following needs to be completed:

You have created your LVIS account (your online Indiana State licensure account)

You have a letter of admissions from your NWI University Partner, Calumet College of St. Joseph

Once you have completed the above action items you will be able to apply, via your LVIS account, for your Transition to Teach license. In most instances approval takes 1-3 months. Schools allow for a grace period, should there be gap between when you apply and when you are approved for your license. However, it is important you can document that you have applied and that your review is pending with the State. We will support you in ensuring you have applied for your T2T no later than August 30th (as to meet this requirement).

step 4 - complete your cpr/AED certification course

CCSJ sometimes offers CPR training programs during August. If you want to wait until Summer Training to talk to CCSJ and see if they will offer this option you can. However, if they do not you will need to find time to complete the course before registering for your T2T in August. We will not be able to excuse you from Summer Training to take this steps so it will need to be on your own time.

Step 5 - apply to ccsj and RECEIVE your letter of admission

You will apply toCCSJ at your University Partner orientation during the first week of Summer Training. You do not need to take any action during Onboarding.

Once you have applied, and completed all their action steps, you will receive your letter of admission. Save this as you will need it to apply for your T2T in August.

Step 6 - apply for your T2T

Once steps 1-4 have been completed you will be able to apply for your T2T license. You can find all instructions for completing that process here

You cannot begin the application process until steps 1-5 have been completed

Teach For America will prompt you to apply in early August via email

information regarding testing

Testing in Northwest Indiana happens on a slightly different timeline than those pursuing certification in Illinois. In Indiana content test passage timelines vary based on your subjects:

If you are teaching Elementary, they do not need to be passed until May of 2020.

We recommend you testing no later than April 2020.

If you are teaching a Secondary subject they do not need to be passed until December 2019.

We recommend you testing no later than June 1st 2019.

Why the delayed timeline? Passage of content tests is required to move in to the "student teaching" phase of your university partner program. For folks teaching secondary Student Teaching happens in February of 2020 and for those teaching Elementary Student Teaching happens in September 2020.

guidance for those taking the elementary content exam

Calumet College of St. Joseph recommends not attempt until Spring of 2020 for Elementary corps members, as the content exams are slightly more difficult than in Illinois and it is helpful to have some official university partner coursework completed. However, our alums and current corps members have said that waiting to test can be difficult as the realities of being a full time teacher and in a certification partner does not leave time for studying. We highly recommend that you register for your exam no later than December 2019 (over the winter break) and set you test date to no later than April 2020. Someone from Teach For America will follow up with you to ensure you have a plan to test, however, it is your responsibility to take this step independently.

guidance for those taking a secondary content exam (ms/hs english or ms/hs science)

The rigor of the Middle School and High School subject exams is not as difficult as the Elementary content exam. We highly recommend that you register for your exam no later than May 2019 and set your test date to no later than June 1st 2019. Testing by June 1st ensures that (1) you have testing out of the way and can focus on your training and development, and (2) helps you identify if passing the exam will be a risk so that you can work with CCSJ during the fall to study and restest no later than December 2018. Someone from Teach For America will follow up with you to ensure you have a plan to test, however, it is your responsibility to take this step independently.

what happens if you don't pass

It's ok! It happens! Passing the content exam is required for you to complete your program at CCSJ, if you don't pass by the deadlines above then it will delay your graduation from CCSJ. Should you not pass your exam on the first attempt please reach out to Lauren Weekes (lauren.weekes@teachforamerica.org) and we will work through next steps.

university partner information

Our Northwest Indiana Partner is Calumet College of St. Joseph. You can learn more about your university partner via out CCSJ university partner page here. When reading this page please pay special attention to: